When it comes to the question of 'what is craft distilling', it's really a matter of intent. What is trying to be accomplished, and does the outcome meet that intent?
Digging a little deeper, the question becomes 'whose intent?'. The consumer's, or the producer's? If we’re talking about consumers, which consumers?
Some of us, when we choose craft, do so because we want to support small businesses engaged in local production, and we may even be willing to sacrifice some degree of quality in the finished product to achieve this intent. We place a higher value on the concepts of terroir and distributed capacity than we do on such subjective characterizations of Quality as drinkability and taste. This sentiment is the foundation for the definition of craft put forth by ADI and the principle that guides our own efforts here at MicroShiner. It’s the intent behind the outcome we expect to achieve when we put our money down on a craft label and why we take exception when contract and commodity distillers assume the mantle of craft.
This is not to say that many large scale producers are not masters of their craft, or that theirs are not the products highest in quality. They are. I wholly concur with Michael Veach’s interpretation of the etymology of the term craft, and I lament the demise of the master craftsman, both in principle and in practice. It’s why I created MicroShiner with the expressed purpose to promote and revive it.
The trouble with craft comes not from the term itself, but when one group or another attempts to co-opt it. What ADI is really getting at with their definition of craft is “micro”. But micro is a dirty word in business, because it inherently implies an aversion to scale, exactly why our name MicroShiner explicitly contains it. Instead of saying what they mean, ADI assumes the term craft, discrediting the many master craftsmen practicing at established distilleries in order to appease the needs of those distillery startups built around an exit strategy.
Better were we all to embrace our true intent, and let the chips fall where they may. There is room for everyone. Commodity distilleries don’t need to be craft when their business is based on providing decent product at the lowest price. Small producers don’t need to be craft when they are really expected to be independent and local. Every consumer has a goal in mind when they go in search of a product and someone to provide it, and it’s our responsibility to help them achieve this. It only hurts everyone when we use labels such as craft to deceive them.
As Mr. Veach points out, distilling is a craft, one that takes a lifetime of practice to master. It's a process, not a product. It's in our collective interest to honor the term, rather than demean it.
~ cheers ~
